Product Description

Misty's Twilight is part thouroughbred, part Chinoteague pony, and one hundred percent fire and talent. A direct descendant of the most famous pony ever, Misty of Chinoteague, Twilight has greatness in her blood. Now it's her turn to shine, perhaps as a cutting horse, a jumper, or in the graceful art of dressage.

Can Twilight, whose ancestors were wild ponies living on an untamed island, do it? Can she compute against the best horses in the world...and win?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #206477 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

From Publishers Weekly
More than 40 years after the release of the Newbery Honor book Misty of Chincoteague comes Henry's latest novel about the descendants of the famous wild pony. Dr. Sandy Price had been mesmerized by Misty as a child; now living on a horse farm and raising children of her own, she sets her sights on buying some Chincoteague ponies. One of the prize animals that Dr. Price wins at auction is a direct descendant of Misty, and she eventually gives birth to a filly named Twilight. Twi's unusual markings, speed and temperament make it difficult to classify her; but when her talents finally bloom she becomes a dressage champion. Unfortunately this is less a novel than a collection of footnotes to the earlier classic. The plotting here is choppy and forced, and the cardboard characters fail to generate any genuine emotion--despite the overuse of exclamation points throughout. Horse story and Henry fans will be disappointed. Illustrations not seen by PW . Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5-8 --Readers will grab this book with high expectations, but the plot won't capture them like the real-life dramas that inspired the previous three Chincoteague stories. Twilight is the great-great-granddaughter of the famous pinto, Misty of Chincoteague (Macmillan, 1990). Sired by a thoroughbred, the delightful pony samples the popular equestrian sports of cutting, jumping, and dressage. Her family, Dr. Sandy Price and her children, Chris and Pam, experience the excitement of Pony Penning Day at Chincoteague, and Twilight personifies the romance of the wild ponies. She is an engaging pony whose spirit is true to her ancestry. The protagonist, Sandy, is a mature woman seeking to live a childhood dream, with Chris and Pam as secondary characters. They're enthusiastic horse lovers, but they can't compare to Paul, Maureen, and Grandpa Beebe. The story repeats Henry's folksy style while it relives the magic of its predecessors. This sequel will suggest a rereading of the earlier books. --Charlene Strickland, formerly at Albuquerque Public Library , NM
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Billed as fiction but more like a fictionalization concerning one of Misty's descendants (dedicating the book to ``Dr. Sandy Price''--the name of the human protagonist here- -encourages that surmise). Many of Henry's books, including Misty of Chincoteague (1947) and her Newbery-winning King of the Wind (1948), are basically fact though couched as fiction; unfortunately this, without explanation, works as neither. The story opens with Sandy--physician, owner of a Florida farm that raises thoroughbreds, and (apparently) single parent- -dragging her unwilling kids (Pam, 10; Chris, 7) to Chincoteague, where they purchase four ponies at the annual auction. One of these, bred to a thoroughbred, becomes the mother of Twilight, a feisty, intelligent scamp of no known breed that no one knows quite what to do with. While the kids grow up offstage, Sandy tries one trainer after another, first hoping to show ``Twi'' as a cutter, then as a jumper, and finally in dressage--the 1996 Olympics are mentioned as a possibility. Henry knows her horses and writes well about their quirks, charms, and behavior; but though this adult-centered narrative about an affluent doctor--whose troubles with her horse are always addressed by hiring yet another trainer--may be authentic, it will be of interest mostly to those who relish every crumb about Misty's family. (Fiction. 9-12) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

A Huge Disappointment
I've been reading the Misty of Chincoteague books to my 7 yr old horse-loving daughter over the last few months, and have loved Misty, Stormy, and Sea Star. Twilight was an incredible let-down. We felt we knew the Beebe family and many of the Chincoteague residents intimately; none of them were mentioned in this book, and even Pony Penning and all it's festivities were only touched in passing. We never connected with the characters in this book. The kids weren't likeable because they didn't like horses, and complained about having to work on the Farm. Sandy, the Mom, was inconsistent, proclaiming her love of horses and of spending time with them, but not doing it. Chapter 16 closes with them thinking they'll try making Twilight into a cross country jumper, with Sandy envisioning herself riding the jumps with her pony. Yet Chapter 18 opens with Sandy not having had any contact with Twilight for months, and wondering if there was even any bond left between the pony and herself. Sandy lost all credibility with me, and my daughter, when she sent her son away to boarding school because of "teenage mischief-making;" she obviously spent as little time with her children as with her horses, and solved her problems with her children the same way as with her horses, by sending them off to someone else to deal with. The book also lost credibility when Sandy missed Twilight's first dressage show because of opening the invitation too late, but has her dreaming of watching the show, then researching dressage for a hour to learn what her horse had been doing for the last year, instead of picking up the phone and calling to find out how the horse did. And lastly, somehow "Twi" was invited to participate in a prestigious regional show after placing in two events in one show; anyone who knows anything about showing horses knows you need to earn a high number of points in the duration of a show season to get such an invite. We forced ourselves to finish this book, but it was drudgery, not the eager anticipation we had for the previous Misty books.

An updated version of "Misty of Chincoteague"!
Do you love the classic "Misty of Chincoteague"? Then you'll absolutley die for Twilight! Twilight is the great-great granddaughter of the famous Misty. Twilight is a Chincoteague Pony/Throughbred cross with a heart of gold. She can jump, she can cut (as in cattle cutting), she can even perform in the Dressage ring at international levels! What happens to the little super-star? Read this book ;0)

The true story of a champion
With many horse books, as with the horse industry in general, the plots often revolves around one particular equestrian sport. What I love about this book, though, is that it exposes the readers to different skill areas and the overall versatility that horses are capable of, and the injustice of breed prejudice that is prevalent in some circles. Not many horses may actually be able to compete at the levels that Misty's Twilight reached, but she proves that a good horse can come from any sort of background. When Mrs. Henry wrote this novelization, it HAD been a while since she had composed her classics, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I think every fan of hers should give it a look. I think children will enjoy the fact that it follows the mare's life from the time she was little, but I think the style and topics may be a bit better understood by the 10-13 year-olds. Contrary to insinuations that this book was made up, Misty's Twilight is in fact a real horse, and is a dressage champion living in Florida. If you do a websearch, there are pictures of her online at her trainer's website.